There is one case in particular that is always pointed to as an example of this treachery. We’ve all heard about the lady named Stella Liebeck and her encounter with hot coffee at McDonalds. Most folks don’t know her name, yet they still judge her and think that she was a greedy old woman who took advantage of a situation. Well, thats what people who don’t know the facts think. The real facts of the case are at Public Citizen. Still think that verdict is so ridiculous? I sure don’t.

“So what!”, you say? Further, you argue: “One case proved incorrect. There are still gobbs of people who abuse the system which is experiencing a flood of lawsuits filed by greedy system abusers. Corporations just want to protect themselves and their shareholder’s profits from this ludicrous behavior. Tort reform now.”

What if I told you that there is no flood of litigation being filed by these people? What if I told you that people in the United States are not nearly as sue happy as we often think? What if I told you that well over half of the litigation filed in this country is not even filed by people? Would you believe it? What if I told you that I could prove it?

Fun Fact: The overwhelming majority of civil litigation filed in the United States is filed on behalf of corporations.

Don’t believe me? Lets put it to the test. Take a look at the cases (excluding criminal and traffic) filed in Oklahoma County District Court on February 10th, 2010. Oklahoma County holds the capital of the State of Oklahoma and the docket sheet I showed you is typical of any day. Go here and try another date. For that matter, try another county. The format for entering dates is MM/DD/YYYY. Sure, the numbers change a little here and there, but by and large the overwhelming majority of lawsuits are filed on behalf of corporations. Its this way everywhere, not just in red states. It doesn’t get more liberal than California, go look at the daily dockets for their courts. Its the same everywhere. Could it be that the corporations are the only ones who can afford the lawyers to get their cases into court?

There is a flood of litigation in the United States all right. Most of it comes from the same people who are funding the Tort Reform movement. Tort Reform is a lie. It designed to slam the courthouse doors in the faces of people who seek to hold those responsible for victimizing them responsible.